BOSTON GROUNDWATER TRUST (BGwT) BOARD MEETING November 8 th, 2018

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1 BOSTON GROUNDWATER TRUST (BGwT) BOARD MEETING November 8 th, 2018 The Board of Trustees of the Boston Groundwater Trust met in the Patriot Room at the Lenox Hotel located at 710 Boylston Street, Boston, MA. The Executive Director electronically distributed the meeting notice and agenda to the City Clerk at Boston City Hall in accordance with the provisions of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. Mr. Saunders, co-chair, called the meeting to order at 4:11 pm. The following trustees were present: Mr. Gary Saunders, Back Bay Association Ms. Amelia Croteau, City of Boston, Conservation Commission Mr. Andre Jones, Fenway Community Development Corporation Ms. Janine Commerford, Greater Boston Real Estate Board Mr. Peter Shilland, Ellis Neighborhood Association Mr. Greg Galer, the Boston Preservation Alliance Also present: Mr. Christian Simonelli, Executive Director; Mr. Rory Cuddyer, Chief of Staff, City of Boston, Office of Environment, Energy, & Open Space; Mr. Patrick Lyons, Legislative Aide for Massachusetts State Representative Aaron Michlewitz 1. Adoption of the minutes of the September 13 th, 2018 Meeting Minutes were previously ed to Board members for review. Discussion followed. Mr. Galer, Trustee, moved to adopt the minutes. Mr. Shilland, Trustee, seconded the motion. Voted: To accept the minutes of the September 13 th, 2018 meeting. Ms. Croteau, Trustee abstained. 2. Financial Report In Mr. Hemenway s absence, Mr. Simonelli reviewed the BGwT s financial reports and stated that the financials were status quo. Discussion followed Proposed Meeting dates Mr. Simonelli reviewed the meeting dates for the 2019 Board meetings. He noted that all meeting dates have been confirmed by the Lenox Hotel. Discussion followed. 1

2 4. Proposed Changes to Accounting Protocols Mr. Simonelli presented a proposal jointly developed with Mr. Hemenway, Trustee & Treasurer, (absent) for changes to accounting protocols that were established in He noted these changes would only affect the processing of payments for monthly expenses and Bank statement opening protocols. No changes were proposed to the investment policy that was adopted in Discussion followed. Below are Articles 6 & 7 of the Trust by-laws with proposed changes in bold italics: ARTICLE 6. CHECKS, CONTRACTS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS 6.1 All checks drawn on bank accounts of the Trust shall be signed on its behalf by the Collector-Treasurer, ex officio, or the Chairperson, or the Secretary or by such officer or agents as the Board may designate. 6.2 The Board may authorize any officer in the name of or on behalf of the Trust to enter into any contract or execute and deliver any deed, note, or other instrument. Such authority shall be confined to specific instances. 6.3 Unless so authorized, no officer or agent shall have the power or authority to bind by any such contract or instrument to render the Trust financially liable for any purpose or to any amount. 6.4 The Trust may make contracts with financial institutions for electric transfer of Trust funds to Trust employees for their salaries (direct deposit). 6.5 The Executive Director may establish electronic bill payments for recurring expenses. ARTICLE 7. ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES 7.1 Expense Procedure Checks, except for regular straight time payroll, shall only be issued after expense is approved All invoices, except those for expenses of the executive director, shall be approved by the executive director Expenses of the executive director shall be approved by one of the co-chairs Checks below $5000 require one signature of either a co-chair or the treasurer Checks $5000 or above require two signatures from co-chairs and/or treasurer Under no circumstances may a trustee who approves payment be a signature on the check. Bank Statement Procedure Bank statement is sent directly to Trust office. Trust Bank statements will be ed to the Treasurer for review Treasurer opens and preliminarily reviews statement. Treasurer reviews and s monthly investment statement to the Executive Director for completion of monthly reconciliation Treasurer matches checks to approved bills Executive director prepares reconciliation Treasurer and co-chairs review reconciliation. 2

3 Reconciliation presented to Board as part of Treasurer s Report The Board may, at any time, impose additional procedures or controls. Discussion followed. Mr. Galer, Trustee, moved to adopt the proposed changes to accounting procedures in Articles 6 &7 of the Trust by-laws. Mr. Saunders, co-chair, seconded the motion. 5. Procedure for Executive Director Annual Performance Review Mr. Simonelli exited the room as the Board entered into Executive Session to discuss their procedure for conducting his annual performance review at the January, 2019 Board meeting. 6. Executive Director s Report BGwT Executive Director Mr. Christian Simonelli distributed his report. Discussion followed. Refer to the attached Executive Director s Report November 8 th, 2018 for a complete list of activities. 7. Other Business Mr. Simonelli reviewed the expiration dates for Trustee Terms of Office as listed in the table attached to the meeting packet. He noted that the majority of the Trustee s terms expire in March Discussion followed. Going forward Mr. Simonelli will work with Mr. Cuddyer on re-nominating those Trustees who wish to continue to serve. Discussion followed. The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m. NEXT MEETING: January 10 th, 4:00 pm at the Lenox Hotel. Notes submitted by Christian Simonelli, BGwT Executive Director, on 11/14/2018. Approved 27 November 2018 J. Commerford, Secretary 3

4 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR S REPORT November 8 th, Readings In the process of completing our sixth set of readings of Meetings/Presentations a. I met with Sean Connor and Said Douai from BWSC to review protocols of providing readings for them to generate groundwater contours. (9/20) b. I attended An Open Space Vision for Boston s Future at the BPL Copley branch. (9/20) c. I updated the Chinese Progressive Association on our efforts. (9/27) d. I attended the scoping session and wrote a comment letter for the Motor Mart Garage Project. (10/12) e. I met with resident Lisa Meaders, resident of 2 Mount Vernon Square, to update her on our efforts and discuss potential green infrastructure projects for the square. (10/17) f. I met with Bashir Madamidola of the MBTA to discuss his transition from the City-State Groundwater Working Group and reactivation of the long-term solution task force. (10/17) g. I attended the scoping session and wrote a comment letter for the Boston University Data Sciences Center Project. (10/29) h. I met with Jerome Smith, Chief or Civic Engagement and Neighborhood Services, about foiling the vacated seat on the Board of Trustees. (10/30) i. I spoke & met with residents & developers throughout the GCOD to discuss ZBA procedures and advised them on what they need to provide us to satisfy the zoning. 3. MBTA - Approximately 47.9 gpm is being injected into recharge wells in the South End Ellis Neighborhood area along Appleton, Berkeley, Saint Charles, Cazenove, and Clarendon Stress. Currently around 3 gpm above design capacity. Systems will be scaled back in the next couple of weeks to avoid paying for excess water and overflow of systems. In addition to our manual monitoring we have 4 wells in the area with dataloggers recording a water level every 60 min. I continue to work with the MBTA, members of the City-State, residents, and the appropriate elected officials to obtain funds set aside for the ongoing recharge efforts in the South End will be made available to them through the Mass DOT FY Capital Investment Plan and to find a permanent solution for the South End Ellis Neighborhood. Moving forward the new liaison at the MBTA will be Greg Thompson who replaces Bashir Madamidola. 4. DCR Dataloggers are installed in 3 wells to monitor the levels along the Storrow Drive tunnel pump station groundwater recharge system and levels are within their usual range. Flood control pumps were activated 4 times over the past couple of months and diverted approximately 54,000 gallons of water to the river. The DCR and their consultants are working with the DOT on traffic studies in support of a redesign effort for the underpass. Recharge will be part of that plan and is targeted for upgrade. In the short-term cosmetic spot repairs will be made in early Spring to the underpass. 4

5 5. BWSC An update on the following: a. Observed damp points along a sewer line in Montgomery Street in the South End. Flow data devices have been installed in infrastructure. Areas of infiltration at Dartmouth and Montgomery Street and #30 Montgomery Street are scheduled to be grouted this Fall. b. In the North End they are scheduled to dye test 96 pipe and have divers walk to inspect the line as well. c. Stuart Street areas of the Back Bay between Berkeley and Dartmouth Streets were televised, and they need to review tapes. Nothing major viewed in initial investigations. d. Saint James Avenue and Providence Street area were also televised, and they need to review tapes. Nothing major viewed in initial investigations. e. Plan for repairs along Clarendon & Gray Street s in the South End are still being coordinated to address repairs of sewer laterals. 6. MWRA In the spring, the MWRA re-inspected approximately 4,000-ft. of the Boston Marginal Conduit (BMC), which runs along the Storrow Drive embankment. Minor signs of weeping at four locations that were previously discovered during the inspection are still present but have not worsened. No new leaks were observed. Currently investigating low groundwater levels along Maverick Street, between Frankfort and Gove Street s. 7. MassDOT - Repairs to 60 of the 30 reinforced concrete pipe, which runs parallel along the Turnpike and terminates at the prudential garage, will again be made this fall during dry weather. 8. Website Traffic on the website remains steady. Due the release of our videos traffic doubled for about a week. We continue to have around 100 visits/day and just under 250 page views/day. 9. Events Along with John Schmid, Vice President-Executive Project Manager at Nitsch Engineering, I ll be presenting Boston Groundwater Recharge- why? how? & results!, at the Architecture Boston Expo (ABX 2018) on November 29 th at the Convention & Exhibition Center. 10. Vacation I ll be on Vacation the week of Thanksgiving and the last week in December. I ll be checking and the office phone for correspondence. 5